Portable drill pipe magazine

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for handling and storing a plurality of drill pipe sections which are used to drill a well in the earth. The apparatus includes a magazine associated with a drill rig and having structure for engaging the drill pipe sections adjacent the upper and lower ends in a manner to non-rotatably support such sections until the sections are removed by the drill rig.

U.S. Patent 0a. 21, 1975 Sheet 10f2 3,913,754

U.S. Patent 0a. 21, 1975 Sheet2of2 3,913,754

PORTABLE DRILL PIPE MAGAZINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of theInvention This invention relates generally to drilling apparatus forboring a hole into the earth and relates specifically to handling andstoring mechanisms for drill pipe sections utilized in drillingoperations.

2. Description of the Prior Art Heretofore many efforts have been madeto provide a portable magazine or rack for use with a drill rig havingan upright mast with a drill table at the lower end and a rotary drivemechanism reciprocably mounted on the mast for movement in a generallyvertical direction. Normally a drill pipe is carried by the rotary drivemechanism and such drill pipe has a cutter head or drill bit mounted onthe lower end so that when the drill pipe is rotated and a downwardforce is applied to the rotary drive mechanism, the cutter headpenetrates the earth and drills a bore hole. When most of the drill pipehas penetrated the earth, the rotary driving member is disconnected andraised to an elevated position after which such drive member isconnected to one end of an extender or drill pipe section and the otherend of such drill pipe section is connected to the end of the drill pipealready in the ground to form a drill string and permit continuedpenetration of the earth. This operation continues until a desired depthhas been reached at which time the process is reversed to remove thedrill string from the bore hole.

Some efforts have been made to provide one or more racks or magazineslocated on or adjacent to the drill mast to provide a convenient storageand handling mechanism for the supplemental drill pipe sections. Theseprior art structures have included mechanisms for handling and storingdrill pipe sections and for moving such sections one at a time intoalignment with the drill string. Some examples of prior art structuresare the US. Pat. Nos. to Thornberg 2,869,826, and 2,972,388; Leven3,025,918; Gyongyosi 3,157,286 and 3,493,061; and Klem 3,185,310.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is embodied in a portabledrill pipe magazine which is swingably mounted on a drill most andmovable from a retracted position to an operative position substantiallyin alignment with the drill string. The magazine is rotatably supportedso that a selected drill pipe section can be added to or removed fromthe drill string. Each of the drill pipe sections is provided with upperand lower non-circular portions in which the upper portions aresubstantially longer than the lower portions and such portions arearranged in such a manner that the drill pipe sections cooperate withthe fixed structure of the magazine to prevent removal of the drill pipesections until after such sections have been connected to the rotarydrive member of the drill rig.

It is an object of the invention to provide a portable drill pipehandling and storing magazine having apparatus for engaging and holdingopposite ends of a plurality of drill pipe sections until the drill pipesections are connected to or disconnected from the drive mechanism ofthe drill rig.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevationillustrating one application of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 2-2 of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective illustrating the magazine per se.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section on the line 6-6 of FIG. 4illustrating a drill pipe section in a first position.

FIG. 7 is a section similar to FIG. 6 illustrating the drill pipesection in a second position.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged section on the line 8-8 of FIG. 5.

FIG. .9 is a perspective of one of the drill pipe sections.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to thedrawings, a truck or vehicle 10 is provided having an upstanding frame11 on which a mast 12 is swingably mounted by pivots 13. A fluidcylinder 14 is swingably mounted on the truck 10 and such cylinder has apiston rod 15 swingably connected to the mast 12 so that the fluidcylinder may raise the mast from a generally horizontal position, inwhich it is stored on the truck, to a substantially vertical position,as illustrated in FIG. 1. The mast 12 includes a drill table 16 at itslower end and preferably has two or more conventional leveling devices,such as adjustable legs 17, for maintaining the mast in fixed positionduring operation.

A reversible rotary drive mechanism 18 having a bull shaft 19 is mountedon a support frame (not shown) and such support frame is slidablycarried by the mast and is movable up and down by any conventionalmeans, as by cables, chains, rack and pinion, or the like driven by apower plant. Normally a drill pipe 20 is threadedly connected at one endto the bull shaft 19 and extends downwardly through an opening 21 in thedrill table. The lower end of the drill pipe has a drill bit or cutterhead 22 for causing penetration of the earth when the rotary drivemechanism is operating and the support frame therefor is being moveddownwardly.

When the drill pipe 20 has penetrated the earth for substantially itsfull length, a conventional clamping mechanism carried by the drilltable 16 is operated to engage the drill pipe and clamp the same infixed position after which the bull shaft 19 is disconnected from theupper end of the drill pipe 20 and the rotary drive mechanism is raisedto an elevated position. Thereafter, a drill pipe section 25 isvertically aligned with the rotary drive mechanism 18 and the drill pipe20 so that the rotary drive mechanism 18 may be connected to the upperend thereof and then the lower end of the drill pipe section isconnected to the drill pipe 20 to form a drill string.

As illustrated best in FIG. 9, each of the drill pipe sections 25includes an elongated tubular cylindrical body having a reduced portion26 with external threads located at the upper end and the lower end ofeach drill pipe section is provided with internal threads (not shown)which cooperatively receive the external threads of the next adjacentdrill pipe section. The lower end of each drill pipe section is providedwith a pair of generally parallel flattened portions 27 which extendupwardly a short distance from the bottom of the drill pipe section.Adjacent the upper end of each drill pipe section, a pair of upperflattened portions 28 are provided which are substantially longer thanthe lower flattened portions and are arranged at an angle generallyperpendicular to the plane thereof for a purpose which will be describedlater.

In order to support a plurality of drill pipe sections and to move onedrill pipe section at a time into alignment with the rotary drivemechanism and the drill string, a pair of generally parallel upper andlower arms 29 and 30 are provided and each arm has one end anchored tothe mast 12. The other ends of the arms 29 and 30 rotatably support ahanger shaft 31 by means of bearings 32 and 33, respectively. Ifdesired, the lower end of the hanger shaft may be rotatably supportedwithin a thrust bearing 34 supported by the drill table 16. In order torotate the hanger shaft 31 within the bearings 32 and 33, a lug 35 isfixed to such shaft and the outer end of such lug is connected by apivot 36 to one end of a piston rod 37. Such piston rod is carried by afluid cylinder 38 the butt end of which is swingably connected to themast by a pivot 39.

An upper support arm 40 and a generally parallel lower support arm 41are welded or otherwise attached to the hanger shaft 31 and the outerends of such arms are provided with bearings 42 and 43, respectively. Amagazine 44 for removably supporting a plurality of drill pipe sections25 is located between the support arms 40 and 41 and such magazineincludes a magazine shaft 45 having opposite ends rotatably journaled inthe bearings 42 and 43.

With particular reference to FIG. 3, the magazine 44 is adapted to berotated in either direction so that a selected drill pipe section islocated substantially in vertical alignment with the rotary drivemechanism 18. In order to rotate the magazine, a sleeve or collar 46 isrotatably mounted on the lower end of the magazine shaft 45 and suchcollar has an outwardly extending lug (not shown) connected to thepiston rod of a fluid operated cylinder 47 the opposite end of which isswingably connected to a lug 48 flxed to the hanger shaft 31. The collar46 has an enlargement 49 in which a fluid operated pin (not shown) istelescopically mounted for movement in a generally vertical direction bya fluid cylinder 50.

An index plate 53 having a plurality of openings 54 is welded orotherwise fixed to the magazine shaft 45 in a manner such that the pincarried by the fluid cylinder can be rotated into registration with theopenings 54. Preferably the stroke of the piston rod of the cylinder 47is substantially equal to the distance between the openings 54 of theindex plate 53 so that when the piston rod is extended and the pin ofthe enlargement 49 is moved upwardly into the aligned opening 54,retraction of the piston rod into the cylinder 47 rotates the magazineshaft 45 in a clockwise direction. Conversely, when the piston rod ofthe cylinder 47 is retracted before the pin of the enlargement 49 isextended, the magazine shaft rotates in a counterclockwise directionwhen the cylinder 47 is operated.

A seat plate 55 is welded or otherwise fixed to the magazine shaft 45 inproximity to the index plate 53 and such seat plate has a plurality ofequally spaced non-circular openings 56 extending therethrough alongvertical axes. Each of such openings is of a configuration tocooperatively receive the lower end of one of the drill pipe sections 25and therefore each opening has a pair of generally flat parallelportions 57 corresponding to the lower flattened portions 27. A stopring 58 is secured to the bottom surface of the seat plate 55 andextends across the openings 56 to limit downward movement of the drillpipe sections 25.

An upstanding generally C-shaped flange 59 is mounted on the uppersurface of the seat plate 55 around each of the openings 56 and theinner periphery of each of such flanges is slightly larger than thediameter of the lower end of the drill pipe sections 25. As i1-lustrated best in FIG. 8, the flanges 59 may be chamfered as indicatedby the numeral 60 to assist in guiding the drill pipe sections into thesockets formed by the flanges. Each of the openings 56 of the seat platehas a reduced neck 61 providing communication between the opening andthe periphery of the seat plate to permit the passage of a bridle (notshown) used in placing the drill pipe sections 25 within the magazine44.

Spaced upwardly from the seat plate 55 is a holder 62 which is securedto the magazine shaft 45 in any desired manner, as by welding or thelike. The holder is provided with a plurality of generally C-shapedopenings 63 disposed in generally vertical alignment with the openings56 of the seat plate. Each of the openings 63 communicates with theperiphery of the holder 62 through a relatively wide mouth 64 which isslightly larger than the distance between the upper flattened portions28 of the drill pipe sections and permits the upper portions of thedrill pipe sections to enter the openings 63. The openings 63 aregenerally of a size corresponding to the diameter of the drill pipesections 25 so that when the drill pipe sections are inserted throughthe mouth 64 and then rotated, the drill pipe sections are confined in alateral direction but can be moved for a limited amount in a verticaldirection depending upon the length of the flattened portions 28.

The holder 62 is provided with a pair of upper stop members 65 and apair of lower stop members 66 adjacent each of the openings 63 with theupper stop members being substantially in alignment with the lower stopmembers. If desired, each of the openings 63 may have a pair of inwardlyextending projections 67 for supporting substantially the entire lengthof the stop members 65 and 66 and permitting rotation of the drill pipesections in one direction only. As illustrated best in FIGS. 6 and 7, anupper stop member and a lower stop member engage each of the upperflattened portions 28 of the drill pipe sections to limit rotary motionof the drill pipe sections and to align the lower flattened portions 27of such drill pipe sections with the flat portions 57 of the openings 56in the seat plate 55. Due to the elongated upper flattened portions 28of the drill pipe sections, such drill pipe sections can be lowered intocooperative engagement with the openings 56 of the seat plate 55 afterthe drill pipe sections have been rotated into abutting relationshipwith the stop members 55 and 56.

In order to prevent lengthwise movement of the drill pipe sections 25,particularly when the apparatus is in horizontal inoperative position, agenerally flat circular retainer 68 is welded or otherwise attached tothe upper support arm 40 in close proximity to the upper ends of thedrill pipe sections 25. A notch or cutout 69 is provided in the retainer68 in a position to permit the bull shaft 19 of the rotary drivemechanism to engage the upper reduced portion 26 of one of the drillpipe sections so that such section may be removed from the magazine 44.

in the operation of the device, a drill pipe section 25 is loaded intoeach of the aligned openings 56 and 63 by first raising the drill pipesection in a vertical direction until the upper flattened portions 28are in alignment with the mouth 64 and the lower end of the drill pipesection is disposed at a higher elevation than the flanges 59 of theseat plate. The drill pipe section is moved laterally so that the upperflattened portions enter the C-shaped openings 63 of the holder 62 afterwhich the drill pipe section is rotated until the upper flattenedportions engage the stop members 65 and 66. In this position, the lowerend of the drill pipe section is substantially in registration with theopenings 56 of the seat plate and the lower flattened portions 27 aresubstantially in alignment with the flattened portions 57 of the seatplate. The drill pipe section then is lowered into the openings 56 ofthe seat plate until the drill pipe section engages the stop ring 58.When the magazine 44 is rotated by the fluid cylinder 47, the upper endsof most of the drill pipe sections are located in proximity to theretainer 68 to prevent axial movement of the drill pipe sections. It isnoted that the upper ends of all of the drill pipe sections could belocated in proximity to the retainer 68 by moving the index plate 53 toa position midway of the stroke of the piston rod of the cylinder 47 sothat no pipe section is in alignment with the notch 69.

When the drill rig is in operation and the drill pipe 20 has penetratedthe earth for substantially its entire length, the bull shaft 19 isseparated from the drill pipe 20 and the rotary drive mechanism 18 israised substantially to the top of the mast 12. In this position, thefluid cylinder 38 is operated to rotate the hanger shaft 31 and move themagazine 44 from a retracted inoperative position shown in full lines inFIG. 2 to an operative position shown in dotted lines. in the operativeposition, one of the drill pipe sections is in alignment with the notch69 of the retainer 68 and is substantially in vertical alignment withthe bull shaft 19 and the drill pipe 20.

In this position, the rotary drive mechanism 18 is lowered until thebull shaft 19 engages the threaded reduced portion 26 of the drill pipesection 25, after which the bull shaft is rotated by the rotary drivemechanism to connect the bull shaft to the drill pipe section. Whilethis connection is being made, the drill pipe section is prevented frombeing rotated by the cooperative engagement between the lower flattenedportions 27 of the drill pipe section and the flattened portions 57 ofthe seat plate openings 56.

After the bull shaft has been connected to the drill pipe section in themagazine 44, the rotary drive mechanism 18 is raised slightly to removethe lower flattened portions 27 from the seat plate openings 56 and tolocate the lower end of the drill pipe section above the flange 59.After the drill pipe section has been raised from the positionillustrated in FIG. 7 to the position illustrated in FIG. 6, the rotarydrive mechanism is rotated slightly to align the upper flattenedportions 28 of the drill pipe section with the mouth 64 of the holderopening and then the fluid cylinder 38 is operated to cause the hangershaft 31 to rotate the magazine 44 to a retracted position while leavingthe drill pipe section suspended from the rotary drive mechanism. Afterthe magazine has been retracted, the rotary drive mechanism is lowereduntil the lower end of the drill pipe section carried thereby engagesthe upper end of the drill pipe 20 and the rotary drive mechanism isrotated to connect the drill pipe section 25 to the drill pipe 20 andform a drill string. Thereafter, the clamping mechanism of the drilltable 16 is released and the rotary drive mechanism is operated to causecontinued penetration of the earth.

After the desired depth has been reached, the drill pipe sections areremoved one at a time from the drill string and are replaced within themagazine 44. This is accomplished in steps, first by applying theclamping mechanism of the drill table to the upper end of the drillstring immediately below the uppermost drill pipe section 20 andreversing the rotation of the rotary drive mechanism until the uppennostsection is separated from the next section below of the drill string.Then the section which is connected to the rotary head is raised to apoint above the flanges 59 of the seat plate and the pipe is turneduntil the upper flattened portions 28 are in alignment with the mouth 64of the upper plate 62. The fluid cylinder 38 is operated to move themagazine into position to engage the pipe section. Then the rotary drivemechanism is rapidly reversed, abruptly abutting or slamming the upperflattened portions 28 of the pipe into engagement with the stops 65 and66 on the upper plate, causing the threaded joint to loosen or break.The rotary head continues to rotate in reverse and as the threadsunscrew the pipe is automatically lowered to a position such that itslower end is safely confined by flange 59 and the seat plate. When thethreads are completely disconnected, the pipe drops into the opening 56of the seat plate until it is supported by the stop ring 58.

Such operation facilitates the disconnection of the pipe sections andavoids the necessity of any additional vertical travel of the rotarydrive mechanism after the loader is in position.

The rotary head is then lowered and rotated to engage the upper end ofthe drill string which is then raised to the necessary level and thedescribed sequence of operations is continued until all the pipe hasbeen removed.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for removably supporting a plurality of elongated generallycylindrical articles each of which has a relatively short non-circularportion at one end and a relatively long non-circular portion adjacentto the other end comprising a magazine having a rotatably mounted shaft,means for rotating said magazine shaft, said magazine shaft having aseat plate fixed adjacent to one end and a holder fixed adjacent to theother end, said seat plate having a plurality of openings extendingtherethrough along axes generally parallel to the axis of said magazineshaft, each of said seat plate openings having at least one noncircularportion disposed at a predetermined angle of rotation relative to theaxis of said opening and being complementary to the short non-circularportion of one of said elongated articles, said holder having aplurality of openings extending therethrough substantially in alignmentwith the axes of the openings in said seat plate, each of the openingsof said holder communicating with the periphery of the holder through arelatively wide mouth, said mouth being of a width to permit the longnon-circular portion only of an article to pass therethrough, stop meanson said holder adapted to abut the long non-circular por tion of thearticle when the article is rotated within said opening, and said stopmeans being in predetermined relationship to the non-circular portion ofthe seat plate openings, whereby the long non-circular portion of anarticle is inserted through the mouth of said holder and the article isrotated so that the long non-circular portion abuts said stop means toalign the short noncircular portion with the opening in said seat plateand thereafter the article is moved axially so that the shortnon-circular portion is received within the opening of the seat plate.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which each of the noncircular portions ofeach of said articles includes a pair of generally parallel flatportions.

3. The structure of claim 1 including an upwardly extending guide flangedisposed about each of the openings of said seat plate.

4. The structure of claim 1 including a stop member fixed to said seatplate to limit vertical movement of said articles through the openingsthereof.

5. The combination of a plurality of drill pipe sections and a magazinefor removably supporting the same, each of said drill pipe sectionscomprising an elongated generally cylindrical body having upper andlower ends, said body having at least one relatively short non-circularportion extending upwardly from said lower end and having at least onerelatively long non-circular portion located in spaced relationship tosaid upper end, the plane of said upper non-circular portion beingdisposed at a predetermined angle relative to the plane of said lowernon-circular portion, said magazine comprising an elongated generallyvertical shaft, a seat plate fixed to said shaft adjacent one end and aholder fixed to said shaft adjacent the other end, said seat platehaving a plurality of openings of a configuration corresponding to thelower non-circular portion of the drill pipe sections, said holderhaving a plurality of openings substantially in vertical alignment withthe openings of said seat plate, each of the holder openingscommunicating with the periphery of the holder through a relatively widemouth, said mouth being of a width to receive the long non-circularportion of a drill pipe section, stop means carried by said holder in aposition to engage the long non-circular portion of said drill pipesection when the drill pipe section is rotated within a holder opening,and said stop means being located in a position such that the shortnon-circular portion at the lower end of said body is aligned with thenon-circular opening in said seat plate when the long non-circularportion is in abutting relationship with said stop means, whereby adrill pipe section is inserted into an opening in the holder and rotatedso that the long non-circular portion is in abutting relationship withthe stop means and thereafter the drill pipe section is moved axially sothat the lower end of the drill pipe section is received within anopening in said seat plate.

* l l I!

1. Apparatus for removably supporting a plurality of elongated generallycylindrical articles each of which has a relatively short non-circularportion at one end and a relatively long non-circular portion adjacentto the other end comprising a magazine having a rotatably mounted shaft,means for rotating said magazine shaft, said magazine shaft having aseat plate fixed adjacent to one end and a holder fixed adjacent to theother end, said seat plate having a plurality of openings extendingtherethrough along axes generally parallel to the axis of said magazineshaft, each of said seat plate openings having at least one non-circularportion disposed at a predetermined angle of rotation relative to theaxis of said opening and being complementary to the short non-circularportion of one of said elongated articles, said holder having aplurality of openings extending therethrough substantially in alignmentwith the axes of the openings in said seat plate, each of the openingsof said holder communicating with the periphery of the holder through arelatively wide mouth, said mouth being of a width to permit the longnon-circular portion only of an article to pass therethrough, stop meanson said holder adapted to abut the long non-circular portion of thearticle when the article is rotated within said opening, and said stopmeans being in predetermined relationship to the non-circular portion ofthe seat plate openings, whereby the long non-circular portion of anarticle is inserted through the mouth of said holder and the article isrotated so that the long non-circular portion abuts said stop means toalign the short non-circular portion with the opening in said seat plateand thereafter the article is moved axially so that the shortnon-circular portion is received within the opening of the seat plate.2. The structure of claim 1 in which each of the non-circular portionsof each of said articles includes a pair of generally parallel flatportions.
 3. The structure of claim 1 including an upwardly extendingguide flange disposed about each of the openings of said seat plate. 4.The structure of claim 1 including a stop member fixed to said seatplate to limit vertical movement of said articles through the openingsthereof.
 5. The combination of a plurality of drill pipe sections and amagazine for removably supporting the same, each of said drill pipesections comprising an elongated generally cylindrical body having upperand lower ends, said body having at least one relatively shortnon-circular portion extending upwardly from said lower end and havingat least one relatively long noncircular portion located in spacedrelationship to said upper end, the plane of said upper non-circularportion being disposed at a predetermined angle relative to the plane ofsaid lower noncircular portion, said magazine comprising an elongatedgenerally vertical shaft, a seat plate fixed to said shaft adjacent oneend and a holder fixed to said shaft adjacent the other end, said seatplate having a plurality of openings of a configuration corresponding tothe lower non-circular portion of the drill pipe sections, said holderhaving a plurality of openings substantially in vertical alignment withthe openings of said seat plate, each of the holder openingscommunicating with the periphery of the holder through a relatively widemouth, said mouth being of a width to receive the long non-circularportion of a drill pipe section, stop means carried by said holder in aposition to engage the long non-circular portion of said drill pipesection when the drill pipe section is rotated within a holder opening,aNd said stop means being located in a position such that the shortnon-circular portion at the lower end of said body is aligned with thenon-circular opening in said seat plate when the long non-circularportion is in abutting relationship with said stop means, whereby adrill pipe section is inserted into an opening in the holder and rotatedso that the long noncircular portion is in abutting relationship withthe stop means and thereafter the drill pipe section is moved axially sothat the lower end of the drill pipe section is received within anopening in said seat plate.